- Mr. Kippers here and I realize that I have been terribly remiss in getting a blog post out on our second, VERY SUCCESSFUL, 2017 Hurricane Harvey Flood Relief effort.
Between the death of my dear friend, K-9 German Shepherd Veteran “FEBE”, and the launch of my fall ladies collection coming up On Oct 10, there have not been enough hours in the day!
But as always, I want my loyal followers, as well as those new to my Kippers’ Flood Relief program, to know where your donations of money, food and supplies have gone. I truly believe that the reason we have been so successful is due to our hard work and letting you know on this blog, through words and photos, just how much your generous hearts have meant to those in need.
The need for our help in SW Louisiana began when mom’s friend, Miss Tanya Parker with Paws 4 Life, did what she does best in getting dogs out of shelters and up north where they can find forever homes.
Miss Tanya and Mom
There was a slight twist this time because the shelters down there needed their adoptees (dogs and cats already up for adoption) to catch transports up North as soon as possible, so that they could not only find forever homes but in turn their departure would make room for dogs and cats displaced from the flood. That way the flood victims could hopefully be reunited with their families.
Miss Tanya has saved hundreds of dogs and cats and these trips thankfully, added to her tally. Naturally the first monies I received went straight to the Paws 4 Life gas fund to help evacuate! As Miss Tanya readied for her trip out of South Louisiana, loaded with 15 cats, 16 dogs and one rather ornery pot-bellied pig named Lucy,
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Dogs, Cats and Lucy the pig, headed out of South Louisiana
we readied ourselves to head down there with a truckload of crates, food, puppy and kitten milk replacer, cat litter and First Aid supplies, as well as supplies with which to clean.
The people came! They brought food and supplies- thousands of pounds! Mom and her friend Susan, organized while Dad, Tommy Hollis and Tommy’s son Nick unloaded donors cars and trucks! I cannot thank them enough! Private citizens came, radio station 102.1 hosted a drive at their station and delivered to Mr. Kippers…thank you Laura Schlidt! And our thanks to Nicole Ferlito and her dad for filling up the Shane’s delivery truck with food and supplies! Miss Nicole loves me!!! My friend, bull terrier “Tater”, arrived with his dad, Jack Bailey. Boy did they have their SUV stuffed to the brim! A number of people brought their children like Drs. Cat & Adam Foret. What better way to start children on the path of philanthropy, than to help animals?
I would like to add, that once Miss Tanya delivered the animals north to Illinois, the wonderful people at Friends Forever Humane Society and Safe Haven Humane Society, loaded The Paws 4 Life van with supplies for me to take south on the big flood relief truck. Humane Society of Northwest LA also donated lots of crates too! It was a grand act of humanity!
Much of this would not have happened had KSLA, Channel 12’s seasoned news veteran, Jeff Ferrell, not been aware of my mission. Mr. Jeff and KSLA’s awesome cameraman, Semmie Buffin, did several live spots at Kippers’ Flood Relief headquarters to champion my cause! This is the second year that Jeff Ferrell has gotten the word out on my behalf. THANK YOU BOTH!
We also had more than fifty Amazon boxes drop shipped by my supporters from across the country, as well as money, which we used to purchase huge bags of food and more kennels! Money from as far away as Germany and Canada came to us. I am humbled by everyone’s generosity.
The small shelters in south Louisiana we’re going to be somewhat like triage centers.
Refugee animals would be coming in by the numbers.
They needed crates because none had enough runs to house all of the four-legged flood victims. They needed food and lots of it because there were so many more mouths to feed than normal. They needed litter, cleaning supplies, masks, gloves and milk replacer for the unexpected babies. One woman had picked up a very pregnant canine flood victim to get her to safety and on the road trip out of the flood zone, the mama dog managed to deliver 13 pups on the back seat! Remember these wise words. “A pregnant female, of any species, waits for no one- not even Mother Nature!”
Miss Tanya also connected Mom with Michele’ Brignac. This dynamite lady is the heart and soul, oops I mean the Director, of St. Martin Animal Services in St. Martin Parish.
Miss Michele’ realized that Mom wanted to help the small shelters because Mom knows how hard they work and how much they need supplies, but Miss Michele’ also knew how hard it would be to get the big truck into some areas, load and off load. That’s when Miss Michele’ had a scathingly brilliant idea! She invited the small shelters to come to the Saint Martin Parish shelter to pickup their supplies. It was the perfect way to distribute. Unfortunately, due to construction, we were 30 minutes late, though we still arrived to many happy faces! These S. Louisiana rescuers were thrilled to see Mom and Auntie Susan’s car pulling in, followed by Liz and Earl Ferguson’s big Chinaberry truck, which they so graciously have lent us, with a driver and crew, for every flood relief effort! This was our fourth flood relief effort in twelve months and none would’ve been possible without the generosity of the Ferguson’s! They donate not only their truck, crew and driver, to get Mr Kippers’ thousands of pounds of food and supplies to where they are needed, but their crew loads the precious cargo and the Ferguson’s pay for the gas as well. These are definitely unsung heros! Since August of 2016 we have transported just over 50 thousand pounds of food and supplies to help four-legged flood victims.
It’s a mighty proud Bull Terrier I am to know that my mission to pay forward my good fortune continues to exceed my expectations!
Not only were the shelter volunteers on hand to receive our supplies, but Miss Michele’ had told me that she had alerted the newspaper, the Teche News, who was going to do an article prior to our arrival. She also invited Acadiana’s News Channel, KATC 3 to be there to cover the story once Kippers’ Flood Relief arrived.
It is so important to me that all of you who donated are confident and comfortable in the knowledge that your donations ended up where the need was great!
I believe that the pictures below will give you the warm fuzzies. They came, these small shelters of South Louisiana. They came in vans, pickups and cars. They came to receive the precious cargo delivered to them by Classic Kippers, but donated by you, my cherished followers.
A special and most heartfelt thank you to my mom’s friend, my “Auntie” Susan. She is always there for projects and rescue road trips! She works tirelessly for my cause and will not accept even ONE dog biscuit for her trouble. I worry about that, I mean who doesn’t want at least ONE treat? Regardless, she is the cats pajamas!
“Saving one dog will not change the world, but surely for that one dog, the world will change forever.”
Because of all of you, we helped to save many dogs and cats! I am humbled, and most grateful, that you have helped me to continue my mission- to pay forward my good fortune.
MR. KIPPERS
“That is all!”
My online store ——–> ClassicKippers.biz
It is through the sale of my bow ties, organic tees, autobiography (yes I wrote a book!) and soon my ladies collection, that we raise funds to help abused and abandoned animals. Please keep us in mind this Christmas! A Classic Kippers’ gift is two gifts in one. First, the actual purchase for yourself or a friend and secondly, the net profit from the sale of my products goes to help bona fide animal rescue during the year.